After The Funding Announcement. Now what? Family Alliance Ontario believes that informed, involved and confident individuals and/or their families are the most effective agents for social change. Over the past two years, there have been three important opportunities to impact those who listened with sincerity. Together, we have successfully influenced change by bravely revealing to the Ontario Ombudsman Office and the Select Committee on Developmental Services how the crisis in the developmental sector adversely affects our lives. We must continue to honour the courageous individuals who stepped forward to reveal the horrors of institutional care by not remaining silent. We have seen what the power of speaking out can do in the recent settlements of all three class actions against the government of Ontario. Not only did these settlements provide for some financial compensations for the dehumanizing treatment at the three institutions—Huronia, Rideau and Southwestern, more importantly, the Premier in her apology on December 9, 2013 identified that Ontario had failed their most vulnerable citizens. “Over a period of generations, and under various governments, too many of these men, women, children and their families were deeply harmed and continue to bear the scars and the consequences of this time. Their humanity was undermined; they were separated from their families and robbed of their potential, their comfort, safety and their dignity.”– Premiere Kathleen Wynne – Ontario Apologizes to Former Residents of Regional Centres for People with Developmental Disabilities Currently, these failures continue but in a different way. Only by speaking out, will the voices of people living with developmental disABILITIES continue to be heard. On October 27th, 2014, Family Alliance Ontario contacted the Ombudsman Office for an update. Due to the enormity of the crisis in the developmental service sector the Ombudsman Office predicted the report will not be ready until Spring 2015. The Ombudsman Office stressed that without significant change the developmental service sector will remain in crisis regardless of funding increases. They asked that we assure individuals with developmental disabilities and their families that their stories are vital and that by continuing to contact the Ombudsman Office they are helping with the investigation. The Select Committee on Developmental Services released their Final Report, “Inclusion and Opportunity: A New Path for Developmental Services in Ontario”, on July 22, 2014. The Committee heard from more than 140 presenters at 14 public hearings and received over 300 submissions ranging from handwritten letters and emails to reports, articles, and videos. The following statement included in the introduction of the final report reflects how deeply our stories impacted the committee, “We were humbled by the extraordinary people who shared their personal struggles to obtain the services and supports needed for family members with developmental disabilities or a dual diagnosis.” On July 22nd, 2014, Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services, issued a statement acknowledging the work of the committee and thanking all of the individuals and organizations that made submissions to help shape the report. The Minister stated that the government followed the proceedings of the Select Committee closely from the beginning and recognized the needs expressed in the submissions. The government saw an opportunity to take immediate action in several key areas and in her statement, Minister Jaczek detailed the most significant response, the largest ever funding increase to developmental services of $810 million. Here we are after the funding announcement. Now what?… Family Alliance Ontario asks that you take time to complete a survey developed to gauge the current struggles and success of families. Our shared experiences will help to determine the future actions we need to take together. The comment section after each question provides a space to share your experiences and ideas. Follow this link or copy the link and paste it in your internet browser. https://surveymonkey/s/NZZ85Z3 Entering your experiences and opinions in the comment sections will be very helpful in determining the future actions we need to take together. Please submit your completed survey by November 30, 2014
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:46:36 +0000
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